Music's Biggest Companies Are Asking Legislators to Save Indie Venues
In the latest push of the National Independent Venue Association’s request for government assistance for shuttered concert venues, several of the music industry’s most powerful companies and organizations have signed a letter to federal legislators imploring the government to take action.
The world’s three biggest music companies — Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group — signed the letter along with streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, and YouTube, and trade groups that include the Recording Industry Association of America.
The latest letter marks 1 million total emails sent to legislators since NIVA’s founding in April, advocating for more aid, the association said. Tuesday’s letter — addressed to Senate Committee on Small Business Chairman Marco Rubio, House Committee on Small Business Chairwoman Nydia Velázquez, and Senate and House Committee ranking members Ben Cardin and Steve Chabot — encourages the legislators to support the RESTART Act, which, if passed, would bring a new loan option for businesses most severely hit during the pandemic.
“It is essential that these small businesses receive the necessary relief in order to reopen their doors,” Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s head of global affairs and chief legal officer, said in a statement. “The RESTART Act is a crucial step to helping revive these cultural hubs. Spotify applauds the leadership of Senators Bennet and Young and Representatives Kelly and Golden, and urges Congress to swiftly take action to save our stages.”
The letter also reiterates figures NIVA has previously brought to legislators, including that 90 percent of its member venues worry they will permanently close if the pandemic lasts six months and no further aid is given.
https://www.rollingstone.com/pro/news/music-labels-congress-independent-venues-1028628/
= new reply since forum marked as read
